Chair bed



\ ip x J. D. BELL CHAIR BED Filed Oct. 51, 1950 Dec. 22, 1953 I INVEN TOR.

Patented Dec. 22, 1953 CHAIR BED Joseph D. BelLS-an Francisco, Galif.; Pearl'B. Bell, administratrix of Joseph D.: Bell,:deceased 7 Application October 31, 1950, SerialNo. 193,252

* '1 Claim. (Cl. 155-49) The present invention relates to improvements in an extension chair, and its principal object is to provide a lower limb supporting extension arranged in such a manner with respect to the chair body so as to maintain the lower limbs in semiinclined position, with the knees supported substantially at seat height and the feet supported at a height substantially midway between the seat height and the elevation of the floor.

It is further proposed, in the present invention, to provide an extension panel, the rear edge of which is hinged to the front edge of the seat, while the front edge of thepanel is supported on relatively short legs to bring about the desired angular position of the panel.

It is further proposed to provide an extension panel that is swingable underneath the seat of the chair body and in which the different parts are arranged in such a mannerv that the legs will be accommodated in ,a space behind the back when the panel is disposed underneath the seat;

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a second leg underneath the panel, this leg being dimensioned to bring the panel into substantially horizontal position and being hinged with respect to the extension so as to be swingable into a position underneath the panel when the short leg is to be used.

It is still further proposed tov provide achair body arrangementin which the seat is normally mounted on an incline, with the front portion raised, so as to cooperate with the extension in forming a knee-supporting hump, giving to the seat occupant a sensation of complete relaxation.

And finally, it is proposed to incorporate the features discussed into a chair body having a floating sup-port allowing the seat and the back to be moved by body movements of the chair occupant to any desired angularities, from regular chair position to an outstretched position in which the chair back, seat and extension become horizontally alined to form a bed.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the novel features thereof will be fully defined in the claim attached hereto.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 shows my extension chair in outstretched position to form a bed;

Figure 2 shows my extension chair in chair position with the seat and extension arranged to form a knee-supporting hump; and

Figure 3 shows the extension chair with the extension disposed underneath the chair seat,

. a second horizontal position being indicated in dotted lines.

While Ihave shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various-changes or-modifications may be made within the scope of the claim hereto attached, without departing from the'spirit of the invention. i

Referring to the drawing in detail, my invention comprises in its principal features, a main frame I, a mattress unit 2, and an extension panel 3.

The main frame may be of any suitable construction, and includes a pair of side frame membore 4 suitably shaped to form arm rests, a rear member or board 5 connecting the rear edges of the side members, and a front board ii connecting the side members near the front thereof. The rear board 5 has an upper edge well below the upper edges'ofthe arm rests, and the upper edge of the front board is somewhat lower than that of the rear board. The side members be suitably upholstered along the outer faces and the top andendedges.

The-mattress unit 2 is supported in the frame with freedom of teetering motion, in response to body movements of the chair occupant. prises aback frame land a'seat frame lithe two frames being hingedly'connected, as at 9, and being suitably upholstered; as at H], the upholstery being made in the form of a unitary structure adapted to bend or fold when the back and seat are arranged in angular position, as in Figures and 3, and'to fiattenout-when the back and seat aresalined, as in Figure l.

The back frame I is supported in the main frame with freedom of teetering motion, on pins H, the pins being supported in the side frame members 4 at a point near the upper edge of the rear board 5, and in the back frame 1 near its lower edge so as to cause the main portion of the back frame to project/above the same.

The seat frame 8 has a bracket 12 depending from its front portion, and. this bracket has an inclined, preferably curved bottom face'l3 adapted to ride on the front board 6 so as to form a floating support for the seat. The rear extension of the bracket is flattened, as at l t, to form a solid support for the seat when the mattress unit is moved into the alined position of Figure 1.

The extension panel 3 is rectangular in form and approximately of the same dimensions as the seat frame 8, except that it is slightly narrower for accommodation between the brackets I 2 of which two are provided in my construction,

It comspaced by the width of the panel. The rear edge of the panel is hinged 'to the front edge of the seat frame, as at IS, the hinge being arranged to allow the panel to swing between positions of alignment with the seat frame and underneath the latter. A removable cushion I6 may be placed on the panel to bring its supporting surface up to the elevation of the seating surface.

The forward end of the extension panel is provided with two sets of legs I! and I8. The legs I! are relatively short and are preferably fixed with respect to the panel. When in active use as in Figure 2, they support the front of the panel at a height approximately one-half that of the hinge l above the floor.. This causes the panel to assume an inclinedposition to form a downwardly inclined rest for the lowerlimbs of the seat occupant. Since, in the form shown, the seat frame is normally mounted on a reverse incline, as in Figure 2, the seat frame and the panel form a hump at the hinge to provide an elevated knee support for the seat occupant and. to support the legs of the occupant in a stateof complete relaxation and comfort.

The lower ends of the legs I! are preferably provided with suitable anti-friction members 19 to allow the legs to ride over the floor surface in response to chair body movements.

When the extension panel is swung underneath the seat, the legs I! swing behind the back and are readily accommodated in the space between the back frame and the rear member 5.

The second set of legs I8 is pivoted to the underside of the extension panel, as at 20, with freedom of swinging movement between a panel supporting position, as in Figure 3, and a position adjacent the bottom face of the panel, as in Figure 2. These legs are longer than the legs I1, and support the front of the panel substantially on a level with the hinged rear edge thereof. The two legs may be connected for common operation by a U-member 2| adapted to bear against the bottom face of the panel when the legs are in panel supporting position,

A suitable cushion 22 may be provided over the hinge l5 to accentuate the knee-raising feature, this cushion being preferably made in two sections 24 and 25 joined as at 26, each of the sections being tapered longitudinally to increase in thickness toward the joint.

In use, the chair lends itself to many positions of comfort for the occupant. When the parts are in the position shown in Figure 2, the occupant will find himself in a position with his back substantially upright and his knees raised above 4 the elevation of the hips and of the feet, all the parts of the body being fully supported.

Beginning with this position, the occupant may teeter the back, by mere pressure brought to bear on the upper end of the back to slide the seat and the extension forward for stretching out his body. He may continue this adjustment until the seat and the back reach positions of horizontal alinement, as in Figure 1.

If the occupant wishes to provide a substantially horizontal support for his lower limbs, he merely swings the legs I8 downward to raise the front edge of the extension panel.

If he wants to remove the extension feature altogether, he folds the legs l8 underneath the panel, removes the cushion l6, and swings the panelunderneath the seat, the front end of which is raised for this purpose, in which case the short legs engage behind the back, as shown.

I claim:

In an extension chair, a main frame, a mattress unit having a back section and a seat section and a hinge connecting the'same, means for supporting the mattress unit in the main frame with the back section in upright position and with the seat section in inclined position and with the front edge of the seat section higher than the rear edge thereof, and an extension panel having its rear edge hinged to the front edge of the seat, the panel having a leg for the front thereof and dimensioned to support the front edge substantially at the elevation of the rear edge of the seat section to provide a kneesupporting peak at the hinged connection between the seat section and the extension panel, the supporting means for the mattress including means operable for moving the seat and back sections into horizontal alinement, and the extension panel having a second leg swingable on the front portion thereof and dimensioned to raise the front edge of the panel to the height of the alined mattress unit when the leg is swung into vertical position.

JOSEPH D. BELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,187,713 Bowersox Jan. 16, 1940 2,514,447 Hendrickson et a1. July 11, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 209,263 Great Britain Jan. 10, 1924 612,856 France Aug. 9, 1926 

